1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a medical equipment which monitors a status of the equipment, a medical equipment management apparatus and a method for managing a medical equipment and communicating with a medical facility, and a medical equipment management system including such a medical equipment and such a medical equipment management apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various types of medical image diagnosis apparatuses are used in medical facilities such as hospitals and the like. One type of such apparatuses is an X-ray computed tomography apparatus (hereinafter referred to as a CT apparatus) which is well known as a medical equipment for obtaining tomographs of a tomography object such as a patient (hereinafter referred to as a specimen). As other types of the medical image diagnosis apparatuses known are, for example, an X-ray diagnosis apparatus, a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus, a nuclear medical imaging apparatus, an ultrasound diagnosis apparatus, and an endoscope apparatus.
These apparatuses are very helpful in a medical diagnosis or treatment. When, however, one apparatus operates during a period when it is difficult to maintain its normal performance during use of the apparatus for the specimen (such use may hereinafter be referred to as an imaging), it results in requiring another imaging for the same specimen. This lowers a throughput of imaging examinations and annoys specimens, from a point of view of a medical facility where the one apparatus is provided. Also from a specimen's point of view, it causes unnecessary X-ray exposure and restraint due to another imaging, and increase of annoyance and anxiety.
In order to avoid those problems mentioned above, a maintenance system has been introduced. For example, as described in a Japanese Patent Application Disclosure P11-244276, a predetermined part of a medical diagnosis apparatus is quantitatively measured periodically and, when a measured value does not meet a predetermined reference value, a warning is displayed. Further, such a status is also automatically reported to a local maintenance provider. Still further, it is also known to the inventors that a future expectancy is predicted based on measured values and an advance response is performed according to a comparison between the future expectancy and a predetermined reference value.
Accordingly, it may be possible to have a maintenance service in advance of it becoming difficult for the medical diagnosis apparatus to maintain its normal performance. This may result in reducing the problems mentioned above.
Although a maintenance service may be implemented according to the comparison with a predetermined reference value, it was not easy, for a hospital staff, a service center, and/or manufacturers of medical diagnosis apparatuses as well as maintenance personnel in the local maintenance provider, to comprehend a current status or situation of the medical diagnosis apparatus. In other words, there was no way of easily and voluntarily knowing when a maintenance service is required; whether maintenance needs may arise earlier due to some reasons other than expected on the basis of experiences or may not arise for the time being; and so on.
In addition, the hospital staff could not easily know that a maintenance service was requested to the local maintenance provider, and details of the request (i.e., when the maintenance service will take place). Therefore, the hospital staff could not have enough time, in some cases, to review and cope with in advance an effect on operations of the medical diagnosis apparatus due to the maintenance service. For example, it may be necessary to change or arrange reservations for CT examinations. On the other hand, for the maintenance personnel, there was not enough time in some cases to arrange a maintenance schedule and to order parts which may be needed in the maintenance service.